Treadle and catch



Feb. 23, 41943. H .W 4 NEUNHERZ 2,312,184

' TREADLE AND CATCH Filed JulyA 5l, 1940 a, ama-ey Patented Feb. 23, 1943 UNITED- STATES PAT EN T OF FICE TREADLE CATCH Herbert W. Neimherz, Gardner, Mass..A

Application' July 3'1, 1940,. Serial No. 3482.741?

8' Claims. (.Cl. 5-g-10L0) This invention relates to a treadley and holding device for the drop. side of a crib and itA consti-y tutes: a mechanical construction canbe used? in any other suitable place.

rFhe. principal objects of theinvention are toprovide a, spring: treadle having no parts project-`l ing; down tothe floor; to. provide a treadle. which will automatically catch a member on the drop side` when the latter is pushed up and eleetively hold it in position and which can be released, by the. simplel pushing in of a. short. lever tov allow the side of` the crib to drop; and to provide a con.` struction in which, when the; side. is raised', a yielding construction will allow of. this: action and. yet,y keep a bar on the. drop side in such position. that, as it goes up, it will be forced intoythe holding' position combined` with a form of receiving; device at. the top: that willV force the same; bac-kwardly into locking position.

Other objects. and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference isfto be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of aA crib. and dropside therefor, provided with a preferred embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the catch., locking. device and associated parts; f

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the same on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, with the drop-side held in elevated position;

Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the drop-side released and dropping down;

Fig. 5 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a bracket to be mounted on the crib frame, and

Fig. 7 is a plan, looking in the direction of the arrow 'I in Fig. 3.

The invention is shown as applied to a crib II) having a drop-side II with the usual vertical guides I2 therefor. On the bottom and rear of the drop-side there are two brackets I3 spaced apart and fixed to the rear of the drop-side and extending rearwardly. Each bracket has upwardly extending ends I4. Each of these ends carries a pin I5. These pins I5 are at opposite ends of a treadle by which they are supported in the raised position of the drop-side. This completes the drop-side.

On the stationary front rail I6 of the crib, which is in the form of an angle iron, there are riveted two double or inverted U-shaped brackets I1 in side the angle and each having on each side a. perforation for the reception of a pivot pin I8.

One of these sides has near the center at the bottom a semi-circular slot I9. From both sides of the slot I9 extend surfaces 2l), which are at opposite angles to guide the pins I5 into the same when the drop-side is moved upwardly. One side ofV each brackethas an angled guiding lip I'I.

On each pivot pin I8 is a coil spring 2 I, one end of which 22 simply bears against the inside of the topl of' this bracket I'I.. The other ends 23 engage knee levers 24, so that the. knee lever is a1- ways forced forwardly by this spring. A longitudinal bar 9 connects the levers 24 and completes. the tread-le.` Each lever at 25 acts as a stop. against the angle iron to` limit the motion of the lever beyond the desired position, which is almost verticali. Each lever 24 has a notch 2'I in its edge co-operating with the openingl I9 to hold thepin I5v when the lever is in the right position.

' These levers are pivoted on the two pivot pins I 8.

. In the operationof the device, when the dropside.l is down, the raising of it along its guides I2 will result. in bringing the pin I5 eventually into Contact. with the front' edge of the treadle lever 24. and, acting against the spring, gradually force the. lever back until the pin I5 runs into the slot Il9r, allowing the lever to be swung over by the spring 21| so that the notches 2:7 receive the pinsv IE5'.

Itwill be, seen that when the pins I5 reach theV position to enter these slots, they are kept from moving forwardly or backwardly materially by the two inclined surfaces 20 and they constitute guides. to.4 insure the proper positioning of the pins in the slots I9.

The length of pins I5 is suchthat a relatively large amount of inaccuracy in the assembly of the parts may be accommodated, as well as inaccuracy or spring in such parts as the rods I2. The guides I'I Will assist in locating the pin and catch if they become offset. The treadle can be moved back to abut the spring frame for transportation. v

It will be clear that the sides of bracket II will prevent any large play of bracket I 3, by abutment of the parts. This in turn prevents any horizontal tendency of the crib to collapse since the rigid frame I6 and the drop-side are thus bound together when the side is raised, although a little play is possible.

It will be seen now that the levers 24 will move slightly forward and form bottoms for the slots I9 to hold the pins in position. rlhus the cylindrical pins are held in a substantially cylindrical passage and the springs 2i hold the treadle forward as far as it will go. This constitutes a safe holder for the drop-side. Nothing can re lease the drop-side except the pushing in of the treadle. Furthermore, this treadle is so high that a dog or cat walking under the crib or a child playing on the floor around the crib could not possibly release it and there is very little danger of its being accidentally released in any other way. This constitutes a very positive means or holding the drop-side of a crib in raised position when desired and enables th-e attendant to release it so as to have both hands free to handle a child in the crib. The raising of the drop-side of the crib necessarily locks the treadle in its highest position, when it once reaches that position, without any attention being given to the locking means, as the locking is automatic.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

l. In a crib having a drop side, a bracket extending inwardly from the drop side, and a horizontally extending pin or the like mounted in said bracket; a stationary rail on the crib, a bracket on said rail having two arms extending therefrom, a downwardly opening notch in the end of one arm, a treadle pivoted to said rail, a lateral notch in said treadle, said notches coinciding in one position of said treadle to enclose and hold said pin, means on the other arm of said second named bracket, cooperating with said rst named bracket to prevent excess endwise relative displacement of said drop side and crib rail, and resilient means urging the treadle to latching position.

2. The combination of a crib having a stationary side rail, a bracket having a downwardly extending element on said side rail, a notch in the end of said element, said notch opening downwardly, a pivoted treadle on said bracket, a lateral generally horizontal notch in said treadle, said notches coinciding to form a substantially complete enclosure in one position of said treadle, and spring means normally urging said treadle towards said position; with a drop side for said crib, a bracket on said drop side, and a generally horizontal pin or the like on said last named bracket, the latter extending horizontally toward said rail and said pin being located vertically below said rail in position to be substantially enclosed in said inclosure upon raising said drop side to its uppermost position,

whereby said drop side may be held in said last named position.

3. The combination recited in claim 2 wherein the downwardly opening notch in said element is provided with vertical side edges and the lateral notch in the treadle is provided with gener- 5 ally horizontal side edges.

4. The combination recited in claim 2 wherein the downwardly opening notch in said element is provided with vertical side edges spaced apart approximately a distance corresponding to l0 the diameter of the pin and the lateral notch in the treadle is provided with generally horizontal side edges.

5. The combination recited in claim 2 wherein the downwardly opening notch in said element is y provided with vertical side edges and the lateral -notch in the treadle is provided with horizontal side edges spaced apart approximately a distance corresponding to the diameter of the pin.

6. The combination recited in claim 2 wherein 2O the downwardly opening notch is provided with flaring edges leading to substantially vertical edges adjacent the closed end of the notch.

'7. In a crib having a drop side, a catch for said drop side comprising a projecting pin on the drop side, an angle iron or the like on the crib, a bracket secured to a surface of the angle iron, said bracket having two spaced projections extending generally downwardly therefrom, a second pin secured to and between said bracket projections, a treadle pivoted on the second pin, a spring on the bracket to resiliently urge the treadle toward the drop side, means forming a downwardly opening slot in one projection, aring surfaces at the open end of the slot for guiding the rst named pin into the slot, a horizontal supporting surface on the treadle for supporting said first named pin when the latter is located in the slot, said treadle surface cooperating with the vertical slot to substantially close the same at a point intermediate the bottom of the slot and its open end, to thereby catch the rst named pin in the slot, said treadle being retractable against the action of said spring to release'the first named pin to cause the drop side to drop.

8. A crib as recited in claim 7 including means on the drop side extending between said spaced projections when the rst named pin is located in the slot, to cooperate with said projections to limit relative movement of the crib and drop side in a direction lengthwise of the crib.

HERBERT W. NEUNHERZ. 

